BATON ROUGE - It's the world's coldest and most mysterious continent, its many layers of ice holding secrets that only the bravest and most resourceful scientists seek to uncover. While Antarctica may be the world's final and most inaccessible ... frontier, visitors to Louisiana State University (LSU) can experience some of its wonder firsthand at the LSU Museum of Natural Science in Foster Hall. "Experience Antarctica" is the first new exhibit in more than 40 years at the Museum of Natural Science. Featuring displays of rare treasures from the ice continent, "Experience Antarctica" is a glimpse into rugged life of Antarctic researchers studying the origin and history of our planet.

"Experience Antarctica" is a highly-detailed exhibit which can satisfy the curiosity of both young and old. Antarctica has a reputation for being almost uninhabitable, but at one time it boasted an environment teeming with life. Visitors are immediately drawn to the main evidence of this biological abundance through a replica of a Cryolophosaurus skull dominating the center of the exhibit. Cryolophosaurus was one of the dinosaurs which once lived in Antarctica in warmer times. There are also numerous displays of plant life, various types of rocks, and rare meteorite samples from both the moon and Mars. Interactive video displays show LSU geology researchers conducting sea and land research in Antarctica, illustrating the difficulties involved in gathering information in the world's most hostile natural environment.

"It is our hope that this new exhibit creates a spirit of enthusiasm and excitement for our museum and for Earth Science research" says Dr. Sophie Warny. Dr. Warny is the education director of the MNS and she is responsible for raising the funds, designing and implementing the new exhibit. "We are very proud of the high level of quality scientific research we conduct here at LSU and our goal is to share the excitement we have for our research with the public. What better way to do so than by translating LSU research into exhibits. Hopefully, this will only be the beginning of a new generation of K-12 outreach programs to generate more interest in the world of science, particularly among our young people" says Warny. The exhibit was built originally as the outreach component of Warny's NSF research grant with the support of the MNS's director, Fred Sheldon. The panels are created to mirror some of the fundamental principles taught in the undergraduate curriculum in geology (Physical and Historical), but these fundamental parameters are exemplified by the research of colleagues such as Judith Schiebout and William Hammer (macropaleontology), Huiming Bao (stable isotope geochemistry) and David Marchant (glacial geology), Gary Byerly (meteorites), Barbara Dutrow and Darell Henry (petrology and volcanology), Barun Sen Gupta (forams) and John Wrenn (palynology) contributed to the exhibit.

The exhibit is free and open to the public from 8am to 4pm Monday through Friday. "Experience Antarctica" is made possible through support and funding by the National Science Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation.